Ciao my dear friends, I want to dedicate today's post to a city I have
visited twice and that has remained in my heart, Ragusa Ibla. A
special place, almost crystallized over time, with a slow pace,
breathtaking landscapes, graceful baroque architecture, in a refined
ocher monochrome lit up by sudden touches of fuchsia of the bougainvillea
creepers, green of the palm trees, blue of the sky without a cloud.A quie, suspended paradise, capable of giving great emotions and large breaths. What
is surprising in Ragusa Ibla (here and in other towns nearby like Modica,
Noto, Palazzolo Acreide, Ragusa, Piazza Armerina) is the architectural
uniformity. One feature that catches your eye. All
because of a destructive earthquake in 1693 which involved the Val di
Noto and has forced to a massive reconstruction all the inhabitants of the
time. They
have built all the cities in the style that prevailed then, a Sicilian Baroque,
original and well characterized, which gave rise to masterpieces that
are known in the world. Not by chance they have been declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2002. I
suggest you to get to the old town from the ascent Commendatore, a winding
road all steps and archways along the remains of the fifteenth-century
Church of Santa Maria delle Scale. But it is also nice to wander without a plan for streets and sunny squares that keep striking surprises. An
obligatory stop is the Piazza del Duomo and the church of St. George,
1744, designed by architect Rosario Gagliardi, monumental yet harmonious
in its elegant design and its overpowering the square. A central row of palm trees accentuate the elegant salon of the place. Here, "al Borgo", a small coffee house located right in front of saint George's church, I ate some of the finest almond granita with whipped cream. Naturally, with a very good brioche, as the Sicilian tradition commands. Moving on, I admired the Chiesa di s. Giuseppe with a beautiful fresco by Sebastiano Lo Monaco. Do
not miss the beautiful Giardino Ibleo, a public park created in the
nineteenth century, where you can find the remains of three medieval churches,
St. Vincenzo Ferrari, S. Giacomo and Santa Agata. Near here you can admire a splendid portal in Gothic-Catalan style of the ancient St. George Old church in ruins. But,
as I said before, it's nice to wander aimlessly through this spell,
reviewing many angles described by my beloved Camilleri, a very famous Sicilian writer who here has set all the episodes of the famous police commissioner Montalbano and many other brilliant books (i am wild-eyed fanatic of him!). Recalling
Camilleri and places described in his works, I could not resist to take
a leap in Punta Secca, Marina di Ragusa, on a pilgrimage, like many
other fans of the legendary police commissioner and let me take a souvenir
photo in front of the Montalbano's house with the famous veranda where he has
dinner in the evening, watching the sea, with the delicacies of the maid Adelina.The Sicily described by Camilleri, ancient and modern, painted in its splendors and miseries, truth and contradictions. My
parents come from Sicily, exactly from Catania. Reading the books of this great writer I
immerse myself in this island I lived only for the short time of the holidays
but that I feel deeply to belong to. An imprinting that is remained inside and that it will never leave me. An aching nostalgia that binds me to this bewitching earth in an indissoluble way.To you the photos.A big kiss to all!